Conor McGregor has threatened to kill Tom Aspinall after the UFC heavyweight criticised his comeback fight.
McGregor has been out of action since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, but he has since made a return to full MMA training. Earlier this month, the Irish superstar announced his long-awaited return will take place against Michael Chandler this year as part of the UFC's latest series of The Ultimate Fighter.
It has been a quick turnaround for McGregor who has already flown out to Las Vegas to begin filming for the coaching stint within the series, as anticipation begins to raise with fans over when he will return to fighting action himself. However British heavyweight Aspinall has refused to become hyped by the superstar's return and is instead more intrigued by UFC London.
"Honestly, I'm not that interested in it. I'll still watch it but I'm kind of over McGregor to be honest," Aspinall told Jamal Niaz ahead of McGregor's comeback fight later this year. "For me, there's way more exciting fights out there than that. The heavyweight fight coming up that I'm super invested in, the London card, Leon Edwards, I could sit here and name them all day. There's another 20 fights I'm more interested in. Will I watch it? Yeah, but if it gets cancelled, I won't be upset about it."
McGregor has since issued a heated response on social media, first tweeting: "Bum p***k. Say sayonara to that GK [Gym King] deal kid. Starve you and kill you, I will you f***ing disrespectful p***k. Don't ever speak my name in disrespect again. Mush potato head."
As his rant continued, McGregor later added: "Mush head rat keep your comments to yourself." The UFC heavyweight ended the heated war of words by posting a screenshot of his own contact on his phone and changing the name to 'Mush head rat' in a comical response to the Irishman's new nickname.
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McGregor's form has suffered a significant decline since 2018 where he has won just one of his last four UFC outings, and he is eyeing redemption upon his return. It is unclear whether the fight will be held at 170lb after Chandler agreed to make the switch having seen McGregor pile on the pounds in his time away from cage.
Chandler is eyeing a fight date in Las Vegas between the pair and is excited to become absorbed by the hype of his rival's return. "Conor McGregor famously only really fights in Las Vegas, and I want to experience a Vegas fight week," he told Bussin' With The Boys.
"It will be one hundred times different than any other fight. I knew Conor had expressed interest in fighting me before this and that was my approach to it. I wasn't going to trash-talk him by poking the bear, he doesn't need to fight anybody that calls him a name."
